Shopping, art, etc!

As a lover of all things sparkly, I happened upon Miner's North Jewelers in downtown Traverse City.


I was impressed by the friendliness of the staff and the variety of handcrafted jewelry. Yes, I said HANDCRAFTED! Granted, I know a few of their lines do not meet my definition of handcrafted, yet still it was surprising and refreshing to see some handcrafted jewelry in an upscale shop.

The area also hosted a number of pottery galleries/studios. Though pottery seemed prevalent, the styles varied from one locale to the next. Many shops and boutiques featured local artists and a few not-as-local artists too. Hilborn Pottery is a Canadian company which started in 1975 by husband and wife team, Rick and Nancy Hilborn. I love the undulating swirls and curls in their pieces! Elegant, beautiful, textural...just up my ally!

Of course I was tickled when I happened upon Earthenwood Studio's ceramic beads in a little bead shop too! It's surprising and oh-so-exciting to recognize a fellow crafter's work in a shop. :)

Oh, and there is at least one more gem of a shop too...The Grocer's Daughter. Yes, it's a CHOCOLATE shop!! The owner and chocolatesmith was in the shop helping with customers and making us feel right at home. Though we only purchased a few truffles, we happily enjoyed them in the little seating area tucked away in the corner of the store. The seats were big and comfy and situated around a small table covered in magazines and other interesting reading materials. Behind the small display counter you could see (and smell!) all sorts of chocolate-making paraphernalia and racks of chocolate cooling and getting ready to be enjoyed by others'. Pure heaven.

Hmmm...as I write this I'm feeling a bit guilty for not bringing home more goodies to share with friends and families. :( Well, if you ever decide to vacation or just drive through the Traverse City area, you'll know where to stop...

Well, back to business...

I'm BACK!

What a wonderful, relaxing, exciting, beautiful, awesome vacation!

The best part of the vacation is we got to do EVERYTHING we wanted to do, the weather was perfect, and we didn't blow our budget. :)

Traverse City, MI, was even more beautiful than I had imagined! Hills, lush forests, quaint villages, pristine waters, and art galleries of all types too!

Though some areas were geared towards tourists, we still managed to find tucked-away areas that were just our speed. In fact, one of my favorite spots was an unexpected find. On our way to the Sleeping Bear Dunes, we spied a little sign that read, "scenic drive." So we decided to take the scenic drive! The pictures above are from that drive. It took about an hour to complete the trip, but it was worth every second!

The photo on the left is of a carving in an old tree. Evidently Connie and Roger were in love in 1991! :) I hope they still are today too. The photo on the right is of an island perched in Lake Michigan. The aboriginals referred to this island as Alligator Island because is resembles an alligator lying in the waters.

I could go on and on about the shops, landscape, beaches and restaurants...but I will list a few of my personal favorites:

Moomers - homemade ice cream! This little ice cream stand is literally in the middle of nowhere...however, we had to stand in line for 20 minutes before we reached the counter...a little out-of-the-way, but well worth the drive! :) Yum! (try the orange-pineapple flavor!)

Murdick's Fudge - fudge! Need I say more?! Cute little shop in the heart of Downtown Traverse City offering over a dozen different flavors of homemade fudge. On the day we visited, we could watch the workers making the fudge on a marble slabbed table (very cool to watch!), sample a few bites of fudge, and were hypnotized by the fragrant mounds of fudge cooling in the display cases. We purchased a few slabs of fudge (peanut butter, chocolate cherry, double chocolate double nut, and rocky road).

Cherry Republic - a homage to all things CHERRY. Upper Michigan is known for its cherry orchards. In fact, it's pretty hard to go anywhere in this area and not see/smell/taste something cherry! I knew I had to partake in the world of cherry, and Cherry Republic suited the bill just fine. In their shop they has tasting stations for most of their products, the staff was friendly and they even offered shipping and a package holding area for customers. We purchased Hot Cherry Salsa....sweet with a touch of heat. Yum.

OK, I know it seems like all we did was eat in Traverse City! HaHaHa! But we did some non-eating activities too! :)

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm obsessed with handmade cold-processed soap. I also happened upon Cave Girl Soaps in the teenie town of Alden, MI. This tiny town hosts an "Evening Stroll" nite on Thursdays to entice tourists and the like for extended shopping hours. The town has a number of independently owned specialty shops, a restaurant, ice cream shop, live music, and street performers. Perfect for families (leave the stroller at home, many of the shops are too small to comfortably accommodate strollers), couples or a girl's nite-out!

Kayaking - Crystal River Outfitters - here we rented a couple of double-kayaks and took a leisurely paddle down the Crystal River. The scenery was spectacular and the waters were indeed crystal clear! I could see every fish, blade of grass and pebble on the riverbed! The staff was nice and helpful.

Wow! There's more too! I haven't even talked about the art! I'll save that for another post. :)

Gearing Up for VACATION!

I know some families take mini-vacations all year, others might only take a vacation every few years...well, we (usually) take one big vacation a year.

Last year we went to Disney in Florida and visited with friends and family...in previous years we have gone to Canada (Niagara and Toronto) and Atlanta for my little sister's wedding....but this year we are doing something a little different.

As one can expect, we are staying a little closer to home. Rising gas prices are a bit burdensome and if we stay relatively close to home, we'll have more time to do activities rather than being on the road.

So, Michigan HERE WE COME! We'll start our adventures on the west coast, stop in Grand Rapids and visit an old friend. Then on to Traverse City! We plan on visiting the Dunes, doing some hiking and various water activities too. A few days later we'll make the journey to the Detroit area to visit more friends and family. While there we'll do one of our favorite activities...visit museums! The Detroit Science Center and Greenfield Village is on our short list.

Alas, I must finish up a project I've been working on and start packing...so I hope to share some adventures with you upon my return!

Going to the Mouse House

Yep! Disney...here we come!

Once upon a time I knew Disney like the back of my hand. Having grown-up in Florida, visits to Disney were fairly frequent. (Yes, I remember E-tickets!) However, this will be our first visit with the kids. Funny thing, when we were planning our vacation, the kids weren't the least bit excited. In fact I heard complaints! "Why do we have to go to Disney?" "Can't we go to the Dells instead?" Oh, how my feelings were hurt! Now, finally, they are excited. Thank goodness.

Mouse House, here we come!!